


Sister Complex

by TheAzureFox



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Akira is good for once, F/M, So that's a thing, also I totally ship him with Ema, but Akira's cool too, healthy sibling relationship, kind of, totally expected to ship her, with Revolver or Kusanagi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-31
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-11-07 04:26:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11051298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAzureFox/pseuds/TheAzureFox
Summary: If Aoi is to be described as having a brother complex than perhaps Akira is to be described as someone who has a sister complex.He was very protective of his sister, perhaps to the point of absurdity, but that doesn't keep him from distrusting the presence of Yusaku Fujiki and four others in Aoi's life. But mostly Yusaku.(AkiraxEma, AoixYusaku)





	Sister Complex

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, back with a light-hearted fic. I mean, I guess this is light-hearted but it's kind of more of a character study I guess...I dunno but something like that. There's no angst here. At least, none of the "we are all suffering" kind. Only Akira suffers...for now.

If Aoi is to be described as having a brother complex than perhaps Akira is to be described as someone who has a sister complex.

He is not, by all means, a very attached person. Having no parents and no relatives to shelter him has generally led him to become very isolated. He’s made acquaintances, sure, and partnerships, definitely, but friends or family...not really. He may or may not let his guard down around a certain pink-haired girl but if he has any loving obligation it is towards his sister and his sister alone.

Akira is well-aware of Aoi’s clinginess, of the way she idolizes him and generally worships the ground he walks on like they are a god’s own. There is mutual understanding in their relationship: he is the one who stands strong, who fights against every storm there is because rain or shine she is the only one who provides his sense of being, his very reason for living. They are one and the same and while Akira is isolated Aoi is desperate to keep a hold on him. _Akira_ is desperate to keep a hold on her. Without their parents, without adults in their lives to tell them how to merely _exist_ in this torrential downpour of a world, they’ve become reliant on each other. He feeds off her love, off her affection for him and the adoration that comes with her brother complex and she feeds off his protectiveness, of the way he hugs her when things go wrong and how he frets endlessly over her ability to cope in school. He worries himself constantly over her state of being, over her mindset of work over friendships, of the same development that has caused him to avoid the world entirely. He’s tried to push her towards talking to others, towards gaining friendships and partners with which she could talk to when he was not present. But, no matter how hard he tried, he could never get her to add to the nonexistent list of friends that plagued her life.

Of course, her adding Yusaku Fujiki to that supposedly imaginary list of friends was something that he, hypocritically, could not approve of.

Akira was first made aware of the boy when, on chance, he had caught him talking to Aoi on a trip back home. Akira had opened the door to his house and, much to all of their surprises, had met face-to-face with Yusaku. There’d been a variety of actions he’d wished he’d done at the moment. Namely, hitting Yusaku over the head with the briefcase in hand out of shocked provocation. However, Aoi had been quicker than him, reading the situation well enough to reassure him that Yusaku was a classmate, a fellow peer, and that he had merely come over to _review a project with her_. Yusaku, though maybe a little startled, came to a quick agreement, skirting around Akira before he left. Aoi, on the other hand, scolded her brother for having nearly committed violence against the boy.

It was at that moment that Akira realized Aoi must have cared enough about Yusaku to have defended him so vehemently. Aoi, much like himself (and much to his concerned disappointment), separated herself from the rest of the world. She was, in both his eyes and perhaps her own, a goddess better left untouched. She shunned human contact, aloof and forever distant from anyone who did not (and would quite never) fit her standards. But perhaps ironically, she also seemed to crave affection. Aoi seemed to long for the touch of someone else, for the physical contact that would result from one human being to another. She proved this time and time again whenever he came home, always eager to hug him or receive a “well-done” pat on the head from her brother when she achieved something worthy. Still, aside from him and him alone, she refused to interact with others. Her alternate persona, Blue Angel, of course, did interact more with the public than her true self did. But, while Blue Angel was much beloved she was still very much friendless. Blue Angel was just as distant a person as Aoi was, isolated and alone, the only exception being that she was well known and much more adored by the strangers of the world than her real world self was.

So, as a result, it came to much a surprise when Aoi nearly _bristled_ at his initial reaction towards Yusaku. Akira knew he had misinterpreted the situation - he’d thought Yusaku was an intruder who’d been, in some way or another, assaulting his sister and making a getaway (an exaggeration, he knows) - but her response towards him had been totally and completely _unwarranted._

She’d been fiercely protective of Yusaku, frightfully angry at him for having potentially endangered the boy. When and where this hostility had developed from was unknown to him (the downsides of only coming home once in a blue moon) but this sudden interest that Aoi had developed in the student worried him. He understood he was a classmate of hers, yes, and, while visiting Aoi to help on a project was extremely unconcerning, what was worrisome was the way her eyes had _lit up_ under his name, the way she’d said it with such _fierce admiration_ that Akira might have mistaken his _own name_ instead if she’d not also said it with a _slight edge of uncertainty_ . He knew Blue Angel had teamed up with Playmaker some time ago (and while he did not approve of his sister in such a hacker’s presence, they were a _team_ and not an _item_ like he’d first feared) but, while he could understand her respect for Playmaker, he could not say the same of some _random boy_ who’d looked more _delinquent_ than _student_.

Regardless, he lets it drop. It’s not worth the effort and he is fully aware of how much his opinion means to Aoi. If she wants to adore this student than fine, she can. He won’t stop her, won’t think anything less of her.

However, that does not mean the same of _him_.

Yusaku Fujiki. An orphan ( _an orphan,_ he thinks, _how coincidental_ ), a minor living under the care of a hotdog seller. He had relatively high grades that contrasted starkly with his teacher’s constant complaints of him sleeping in class. There wasn’t much else to go on. He was normal, as far as Akira could tell. Nothing special, no credentials or reason to captivate his sister so. He wouldn’t be lying if he said he worried over Aoi’s sudden development for the boy but he supposed Yusaku couldn’t do any harm towards her.  

He wonders over that hypothesis every time he comes back home. He knows his chances of returning home are slim (he’s spent many endless nights pouring over computers, talking to chess pieces and napping on a company couch any chance he can get) but everytime he comes back his sister has collected yet another addition to their house.

At first and perhaps most obvious, it’s Yusaku. From there, it’s Go Onizuka - the same Go he’d tried to recruit months back. Next, it’s a boy who carries himself with regality and who glares upon Yusaku like he’s the bane of the earth. A boy known as Revolver. Then, it’s three others, each congregating until there are six children and six children only crowded into the space of his house. Each member greets him with cheerful and yet somehow hostile faces, tiptoeing around him when he’s present and chattering away when he’s not. It’s aggravating, honestly, and if it wasn’t for his sister laughing and smiling he’d drag her away from the presence of such unpredictable people.

It doesn’t take him long after to connect them all to Blue Angel’s little party. Each of the six, though well-disguised in the VR world (barring one Go Onizuka, of course), carry the same personalities that they showed in his house. He connected each of the other four to their counterparts and, the one that stood out to him the most (and that, in all honesty, made the most sense) was that Yusaku Fujiki, the very same boy his sister was protective of, was _Playmaker_.

The name makes his skin crawl. He had not approved of Playmaker beforehand. He only tolerated him in Blue Angel’s ( _his sister’s_ ) presence due to her apparent happiness, but the fact that he was involved with her in the real world as well as the VRAINS world made him suspicious. For what motives would a famous hacker involve himself with Charisma Duelists, terrorists, and god-knows-what-else-the-other-two-were? He was definitely skeptical that such a wanted man would willingly involve himself in a friendship party, to gather together a team with which he would control and do mysterious deeds with. In fact, if anything, he had always seemed like a loner, a solo one-man operative who expressed no need to play any part in a group (much to the hypocrisy of his name). The fact that Playmaker and his sister had congregated such a flock of kids raised many questions that he wanted answered.

He’d made inquiries of it to his sister, curious and prodding as to why she would bother with five other kids near her age when she hadn’t ever wanted to make friends before. Aoi is clever though, evading his questions and drawing his attention away with cutesy faces and playing his adoration for her in her favor. He’s never doubted her ability to manipulate and he wonders how, every time he leaves his house, he’s left with questions unanswered and a swelling pride in the girl he knows as his sister.

Ema, of course, does not help the issue. When asked into investigations regarding Playmaker and his motives she flipflops between helping him and deflecting him. He doesn’t know what Playmaker has done to earn the rogue’s lips zippered-up but it aggravates him nonetheless. Nothing he does can convince her to explain about Playmaker’s motives. He’s tried every option but not even the wads of money he secretes secretly from his salary are enough to convince her

“Why are you so interested in him?” Ema makes the inquiry after refusing to take yet another one of his payments. She leans on her humming motorcycle, curious but thoughtful. “He’s not doing any harm to your company anymore, is he?”

He frowns at her attempts for prodding. “I am merely concerned for my sister’s sake.”

“Oh? Blue Angel?” Ema smiles with a hint of bitterness. “My, I’m envious.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You shouldn’t be.”

“No, perhaps not.” Her fingers slide over the place where her heart would beat and then moves them across her lips. “But I am. Your love for your sister is very touching. One might think you’d do anything for her, you workaholic.”

“Of course I would,” he replies sharply. “She’s the only one I have left who cares about me.”

Ema gives him a look of surprise and laughs at that. “Careful with that tunnel-vision of yours,” she says, “or else it will bite you in the back one day.”

He’s left stunned as she drives off, more questions than answers and perhaps even more than that. Akira will never understand why Ema chooses to do what she does, why she is who she is. He sighs, exasperated at her tedious, secretive behavior, and drives off. She slows down for a brief moment beside his taxi, waves at him slyly, and then takes off.

Yeah, no, he’ll never understand her.

~~~~

Months pass and while the exploits of Playmaker, Blue Angel, Go, Revolver and the like makes its way on the news time and time again, he finds himself with less and less questions. With the saving of the Cyverse and the war against their enemies ceased, peace has come to everyone at last.

But, with that peace comes uncomfortable moments. Namely, the appearance of Yusaku Fujiki time and time again in Akira’s house. And, while Aoi’s group’s normal meeting spot had changed location (he suspected it had something to do with the hotdog stand that traveled to and fro in the city), Yusaku was perhaps the only continual visitor to their house. Akira, always irritated by his mere presence, has to keep from bristling whenever he sees the boy with his sister. He’s grateful for Yusaku keeping Aoi happy when Akira himself cannot but, now that the danger hanging over Aoi’s head was over, his continuous presence had proved to be an continuous nuisance.

However, as much as he wants to shoo the boy off, he cannot. Aoi, though aloof in nature and perhaps the most antisocial of them both, seems to adore Yusaku. It’s honestly weird to explain but Akira can tell by the fierce admiration in her eyes and the respectable way she refers to him that Yusaku means as much to her as her own brother does. It rubs Akira the wrong way, honestly, because he wants to be the only spot light in Aoi’s eyes. However, jealousy is not befitting of him and he lets it slide as much as he can. Her behavior towards him speaks of lovesickness, of blushing cheeks and rather scandalous situations in which two hands meet in a bag of popcorn and they’re left hesitant at such a casual touch. She is easy to read and, while she may be able to hide it from Yusaku well enough, she cannot hide her loving affection from Akira.

Of course, Yusaku Fujiki is another story. The boy is near emotionless, his only facial expressions a smile, a surprised look, or one of boredom. His constant presence around Aoi does not seem to change these expressions much (at least only when Akira is present. However, Akira is perceptive enough to realize how much his gaze wanders to Aoi or how his lips tug in the slightest of smiles when Aoi shares her revelations with him). He’s smart and clever and, on occasion, seems to know the best ways to cool Akira’s annoyance towards him with well-presented words that speak firmly of logic and conclusive data. It almost surprises Akira that such a well-groomed individual was once one of his most loathed enemies and it surprises him much more that such a standoffish individual would easily allow Aoi into his presence.

It comes to an even bigger surprise when Yusaku Fujiki asks to take his sister’s hand.

It starts out a normal day - Saturday, he’s off work and for once in his life the chess pieces want nothing from him. However, what seems like a nice day to take his sister to some place fun ends up with him somehow standing in front of a hotdog stand. Aoi had insisted the morning before that he was to come with her, that he was to come to his enemy’s layer and see for himself where the reputable Playmaker spent his days.

“Hey, you’re Akira Zaizen, right?

A man greets Akira and his sister at the entrance of the hotdog truck, wiping grease from his hands as he jogs up to him. A boy not too much younger than him follows, eyeing Akira warily. He tucks himself shyly behind the man watching as Aoi gives him a wave. The boy returns it hesitantly, uncertain as to how to interact with her. Yusaku follows behind him moments afterwards, a smile on his lips as he greets both Zaizen siblings.

“Hello, Akira,” he says, polite and respectable. Ignis, who garners a human-like form while in the real world, trails behind him. The mysterious lifeform gives Akira a disgusted look and tucks himself back into the truck before Akira can say a word.

“Hello,” he gives a nod of his head to all three of them.

Aoi strays from his side to Yusaku’s, prodding the boy forward. Her hands meet his back and she pushes the boy closer to Akira, grimacing as he gives her a spiteful glare.

“Come on, ask him,” she hisses, barely loud enough for Akira to hear.

“I know, don’t shove,” he hisses back. Again, Akira can still hear them. Yusaku straightens himself out as he’s pushed forward. Aoi hovers behind him, eyes gleaming at her brother with anticipation.

“Sir,” Yusaku begins, polite and respectable and yet raising his hand to reveal three fingers. A common trait among the ‘six birds’, he assumes, glancing to Aoi and remembering her doing a slightly similar gesture from out of his memories. “If I may, can I list three reasons as to why I should-”

“-Get my blessing?” Akira interrupts and Yusaku looks mildly offended. He smirks at the younger boy and watches as Aoi snickers.

“Yes,” the boy seems ruffled and uneasy, his sudden pitch gone lopsided. However, he regains himself quickly and says: “I love her.”

Aoi beams and looks from Yusaku to her brother. Her gaze is pleading, almost seeking for his approval. She was desperate to see him agree to such an impactful request.

Akira sweeps his gaze over Yusaku. The boy stands firm but stiff, eyes wary and cautious and rather concerned for the state of his well-being. Aoi sidles beside him, fingers intertwining with his and Akira wonders when she had grown so comfortable in someone else’s presence. They’re waiting, praying, looking, even the strange man and boy have joined in with the silent standoff, gazes flitting between the three with bated breath.

Finally, Akira lets out a sigh. “Fine. Yusaku Fujiki, you have my blessing. Take care of her.”

Yusaku smiles, shoulders slumping. He squeezes Aoi’s hands and she giggles in response.

“See?” she says to him, grinning. “Nothing to worry about. He’s not that bad.”

Yusaku makes an uncomfortable face as if he’s recalling all the times Akira has tried to have his persona arrested. However, such a grimace fades quickly and he drags Aoi into the hotdog station. The man and boy follow soon after with Ignis poking his head out to glare at Akira with seething venom.

It seems the A.I. still hasn’t forgiven him for his antics.

Akira watches as his sister pulls a hotdog off a grill, setting it into a bun, and then hears the hum of a motorcycle sidling up beside him. Akira’s not at all surprised to see Ema pull off her helmet and give him a triumphant grin.

“You protected him, didn’t you?” he accuses, gaze flitting between hers and the people stationed in the hotdog wagon. “That’s why you refused to give me information.”

“Yes and no,” she dawdles, her voice a subtle purr. “I figured you’d try to pull them apart if I revealed to you his interest in her. You’re too protective of her. And, it would break Yusaku’s little heart if he lost his cutesy wittle girl so early in their relationship. Naturally, as I have a couple of debts to pay him for, I figured I might as well repay one of them by keeping his adoration for her a secret.”

“And, yet, you seem too kind to do such a thing willingly,” he remarks drily.

“Do I?” she fishes out a wad of money and flicks her fingers through it. He recognizes the SOL Tech clip that holds it in place, wondering on how long she’s held onto it. “Or do I have other motives that would explain my behavior?”

“Knowing you, anything goes.”

“That’s true,” she leans on the handlebars of her motorcycle, gaze whimsical. Her eyes flick to the hotdog wagon standing before them. “Hey, would you like some hotdogs right now?”

He raises an eyebrow at her and Ema shrugs. She jumps off her motorcycle, killing the power. She moves forward and, when she sees he isn’t following, beckons him alongside her. Akira obliges, wary and actually quite concerned when it comes to someone as unpredictable as her.

Aoi greets him at the stand, already adorning an apron with the strange man at her side. The man talks to her, tongs in hand, and then disappears into the depths of the truck. His sister’s gaze flicks between him and Ema with the slyest of smiles.

_He’s not sure he likes what she’s implying._

“Two hotdogs,” Ema says, taking initiative. Her eyes observe Aoi with a fond smile, recognition evident. “Ah, your Akira’s sister? Blue Angel, are you not?”

Aoi’s eyes widen and she looks at the people in the streets with fearful caution. Thankfully, no one appears to have heard. Aoi gives Ema a rather shy but nervous nod of confirmation.

“Ema, that’s rather impolite of you,” Yusaku’s voice greets her with a cold familiarity.

The pink-haired girl gives Yusaku a wink as he appears from the side of the truck and he recoils in disgust.

“My, Yusaku, calling out a customer as impolite is rather rude yourself.”

“And yet revealing someone’s secret identity is not?”

“She can always deny it.”

“Doesn’t mean they won’t stop pestering her if they think it’s true.”

“Come on Yusaku, lighten up for once.”

“Only if you shut your mouth first.”

Aoi merely sighs at the both of them and turns to her brother.

“Two hotdogs, right? Need any soda, nachos, anything for you and _Ema?_ ” Akira frowns at the way she stresses the last part.

“Two sodas too,” he relents and Aoi hums something as she hurries away. When she returns, she holds two paper plates and two soda cans which she sets before him. Two hot dogs are placed on the plates and, by then, Ema and Yusaku have finished their little spat.

“Ooh, root beer, my favorite,” Ema picks up a can and a plate before Akira can protest and then places them on a nearby table with her motorcycle in tow. Akira follows her lead, nodding to his sister before retreating to the place of choice.

“I didn’t know you ate.”

“I’m not a machine,” she huffs. “Of course I eat.”

He takes a sip from his root beer. “And, yet, the only thing you ever seem to do is spy on people and ride that motorcycle of yours.”

“Mm, yes, part of the job,” she takes a bit and then chews thoughtfully. Her head turns towards the truck and then back to Akira. “I must say I’m surprised. You gave your blessing to them so easily?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Of course.”

“I’d have thought you’d put up more of a fight.”

“I thought about it,” he admits. “But I won’t raise a finger against it if she’s willing to go through with this. If she’s happy then I guess I’m happy too.”

“Such a good brother you are. No wonder why she idolizes you.”

“Mm.”

Silence.

Ema inhales a hotdog like a black hole inhales stars. She is a fast eater, chewing away at her meal at a pace almost too unrealistic for him to keep up. He wonders what kind of psychology goes behind such fast-paced mannerisms. Did her job keep her from eating on a regular schedule? Is the expectancy of danger, of competition, so high that she had to eat so fast? Or, is it that she’s always busy and whenever she gets a meal it is consumed so that she can quickly ride off forever and always into the sunset?

Akira eats in silent observation, eyes occasionally wandering to the hotdog stand. Aoi mentions something to Yusaku and the boy laughs. Ignis, who pops his head in-between them, jeers something and the two both go an uncanny shade of red. His attention span wavers, so fixated on the both of them that he almost misses Ema standing up.

“Thanks for the meal,” she says, smiling coyly as she abandons her paper plate, soda, and some napkins to his whim. “I trust you can pay your sister on the way out.”

He watches as she boards her motorcycle and doesn’t expect anything less of her when she drives off without offering any form of repayment. He sighs, gathers her trash and then notices a peculiar smudge of black left behind on a napkin. He glances closer, observing, and finds that what he’d assumed to be stain marks of ink were actually tiny letters inscribed carefully into the fibers of the cloth.

_Thanks for the date, Akira darling._

He raises an eyebrow at that.

“Since when was this a date?”

**Author's Note:**

> Akira is clueless.
> 
> Honestly episode 3 came out and I just...cannot not ship Akira with Ema even though I see that relationship leading down a dangerous and toxic road. Ema seems fine and dandy in Akira's presence but her words were kind of cynical and spiteful and...I don't know how to read her just yet. She doesn't seem to like dueling though so that's interesting (*side-eyes Yusaku who suffers from the same issue*).
> 
> Anyways this whole idea centered around the notion that, like Aoi idolizes her brother so too does Akira for her. I mean, he's working so hard for her sake that he can't even come home to her and that's just...dedicated, to say the least. Definitely a lot healthier depiction than what we were first given with his character. 
> 
> Anyways it's like 9 P.M. so I'm gonna post this and head off into the void of unconsciousness under a blanket of darkness and moonlit stars. 
> 
> In the meantime, you guys can answer a question: 
> 
> What did you think of this one-shot? Akira's actually cool, right?


End file.
